By Jared Doxtator @JARED_Announcer
(Grand Bend ON) Week 5 of competition from The Bullring By the Beach rolled off under perfect weather conditions and a full card of racing scheduled. The evening kicked off with a rain make up feature from May 17 for the Broadway Services Jr Late Models (JLM). Regularly scheduled qualifying and features soon followed.
Here are some brief summaries of the events that took place throughout the evening.
OK Tire London South Jr B Sprints
A contentious battle at the front of the field between several drivers had the crowd on the edge as the teams competed for checkers, Chase Pinsonneault led the opening laps, and was on cruise control as the rest of the teams looked on. Coming back from an early race spin was Chase Cameron who was making passes look easy as he marched through the field to the eventual lead and the first to cross the finish line after 25 laps. Post race inspection however, didn’t go so well, and the youngster from London was relegated to the rear of the official finish.
Tommy’s Motors Jr A Sprints
For the 5th event in a row, the more senior micro sprint drivers were at it again for some side by side, pack drafting action. The feature race didn’t start so well for defending division Champion Lucas Vieira, as he took a nasty hit to the turn one wall on the opening lap. Vieira shaken, but not stirred, walked away from the accident under his own power, much to the delight of family, friends and fans. Racing continued, and just like the four events prior, the race did not disappoint. For much of the race Cooper Aubertin flanked Ray Jannise on his right hand side, and the pair fought side by side, mere inches apart. Matt Thompson looked on, inches off the back bumper of both drivers waiting for either one to slip. As the field came to the final laps, the cameras were coming out to prepare for a photo finish. At the stripe, by just the slightest of margins, Cooper Aubertin edged out Ray Janisse at the finish line.
Broadway Service Junior Late Model
Komoka pilot Hayden Sim was looking to make it a perfect night. After winning the rainout feature and the qualifying race earlier in the evening, Sim had the makings of a maximum points night . Cambridge driver Brayden Dupuy had other ideas and was going to play the role of spoiler. From the opening green flag Dupuy and Sim quickly established a lead from third place runner Jacob Campbell and 4th, 5th, and 6th of Kaissha Zimoch, Austin Arnel, and Brent Small. Sim running in tight formation on the back pumper of race leader Dupuy was doing what he could to steal the top spot. Midway through the race an opening developed and Sim passed Dupuy in turn three and four. Not giving up wthout a fight, Dupuy pulled a cross over move in turn 3 that Dale Earnhardt would have approved of and took back what was rightfully his, the lead. But disaster struck just a few laps later, as Dupuy put a wheel out of place while overtaking lapped traffic and spun the car off turn 4 in front of the entire field. Every driver got by and Dupuy escaped without damage, but lost the lead. Hayden Sim went to win his 4th race of the season.
Mike & Terri’s JCAR Mini Trucks
Dinner table discussions in the Pirie household might be rather contentious on Sunday evenings. Brothers Tanner Pirie, and Cole Pirie have been racing each other rather intensely of late. Younger of the two, Cole, has been upstaging Tanner, the more experienced truck driver, in the past two weeks by winning the previous 2 Saturday night events. Tanner, the 2013 Championship runner up has yet to take a checkered flag thus far into the season. Mike Benneteau, and Brody Rickwood also have victories to their credit this year. The racing on Saturday went up a notch or two in the intensity level. Tanner Pirie, and Cole Pirie quickly jumped to the front of the line and the tandem pulled away with bumpers glued together. Cole would be close enough to stick his front fibreglass nose to the inside of Tanner lap after lap. Tanner battling a loose handling truck early in the going, led right from the start, but Cole was doing everything he could to pass. Contact between the pair, harmless in nature, had the crowd wondering how much these two could take. Tanner did manage to hang on to take the checkered flag for his first win of the season. In post race interviews, Cole commented on the blocking going on by older brother Tanner. Tanner responded in his winner circle interview that there are more places to pass than just one corner. The dinner table discussions in the Tanner household this week could be interesting.
London Drive Systems 4 Funs
The Green flag flew on field of 4 Funs and they didn’t make past turn one before chaos ensued. 2 time Grand Bend Speedway Outlaw Sprint Champion McKenzie Hamilton (8) went for a slide off the nose of one of her competitors, ripped the front bumper cover off of her Cavalier. The restart went a little better as Nathan Tabak(64) jumped to the early lead. Fast approaching was a new driver to the speedway, Steve Lovie(1). His bright red Tibaron was on the attack and quickly on the back bumper of Tabak’s Neon. Contact between the pair in turn 3 & 4 provided an opening to the bottom side of the Tabak, and Lovie scooted on by to take the lead. Further back, Derek Moesker (51) was buried in traffic, and Kenny McNicol (17) was able to bust through traffic slightly quicker and was chasing down the leaders. McNicol was soon on the heels of leader Steve Lovie and found an opening off turn two and through the back dog-leg. McNicol would but 3 to 4 car lengths on Lovie, and the pair would be joined by Derek Moesker. Coming into traffic, McNicol went to the high side of Mike Harris (53), and Lovie chose the inside of the traffic. Lovie took his left side wheels off the track and was unable to make the pass. The checkered flag soon came out with Kenny McNicol stll at the front and took his 3rd feature win of the season.
A two week speedway hiatus means the next scheduled event at Grand Bend Speedway will be Saturday June 28. We will celebrate the Canada Weekend with some extended laps on some feature races and the return of the Auto Fusion Towing Legend Cars for their fourth event on the schedule.
Fans can find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @GBSUpdates. For photos, results and Championship point standings, please visit our websitewww.grandbendspeedway.com
